Was 2009 the year that press media got digital? Nope.

But did we see some cool things? Sure we did….

Is it just me or did advertisers used to support programs? When did programming start attaching themselves to the advertisers?

I’m heading to the Channel Ten season launch tonight. I attended the same event twelve months ago. It was there that they unveiled a range of new shows. The big finale was an imported formula of a show called Masterchef. It was an apparent mix up of declining reality, formulaic cooking and out dated values served up to an discerning Gen Y. It wouldn’t stand a chance.

I’ve been wanting to comment on Rupert’s plan to start charging for his online news comment. Feedly is an RSS publisher which hooks into your Google (or other) RSS feeds and publishes them on a very attractive customised page. That is an online newspaper I would pay for. Luckily, I don’t have to.

Today Mumbrella published an extract from News Digital Media’s Richard Freudenstein’s speech at Sydney’s Advertising & Marketing Summit. It was titled ‘If the content is good enough, people will pay’ and Freudenstein says…

“The problem is that even the best intentioned amateur blogger doesn’t hold the same standards of accuracy or accountability as a professional journalist.”

Somehow I don’t think we’ll be pulling our credit cards out of our wallets anytime soon…

The three minute television ad break will not exist in fifteen years time. I believe television’s primary revenue source will be through applications. Television networks will start offering viewers a choice of applications (widgets, plug-ins or add-ons) which will enhance their viewing experience.

I have made this mistake numerous times with football matches, the New Inventors and Bruno’s fall from grace at the MTV awards. With the final week of MasterChef upon us, don’t make the mistakes I have made and keep this Venn diagram in mind.

It seems that the pressure on physical newspapers survival has placed increased pressure on their online replicates to pick up the slack. And because online readers don’t pay a dime for the privilege it seems that it is fair that you can treat them however you want – fill their screens, pull the page away, make them wait ten seconds – it doesn’t matter, they’re getting it for free.

If you missed it last week, there was a nice piece by Sandi Tighello on Onya Magazine. The post asks Australia to put an end to the endless, empty celebrity fluff that is overtaking our media channels. From Gordon Ramsey to Claire Werbeloff – we’ve had enough. You can find the article here.
So, it was bittersweet to see the main story on WAtoday this morning covering the bloody protests in Iran. As much as it is disturbing to see and hear stories such as these, it is important to bring …

I read an interesting article on Errol Flynn in The Australian last weekend. You can find it here. The article explores how Flynn’s exceptinal acting skills and rebellious attitude contributed to his allure and success. It says…
“By his mid-40s his personal life had become a disaster. Married three times, he was financially crippled by alimony payments and descended into alcohol and heroin addictions. He suffered poor health due to a heart condition and was hooked on seducing young women. In 1942 he was charged with three counts of statutory rape …